Season four of HBO’s “We’re Here” premieres this Friday with a new co-host – Jaida Essence Hall – a Milwaukee native and the winner of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” season 12. We asked Hall to share her experience on the show, which sees her and other drag queens putting on one-night shows in small towns across the country.
What has been the highlight of joining “We’re Here” as a host this season?
I honestly have to say the highlight for me was working with my drag children. There were a lot of emotional moments with them. They learned so much about me, but I learned so much more about them and the way that they work with their [drag] families.
Rehearsals were always fun. So it was really good to not only just get to be in there and do the work, but also get to meet people and really learn from them.
Tell us who you’d pick to be a Betty this year!
Since season three of the show, many states have passed anti-LGBTQ legislation. How will the show address that this season?
We went straight to Tennessee. Straight to the heart of where they’re trying to ban drag. The KKK was [born] in that state. I think it’s almost like trying to put the fire out where it’s happening. A lot of these states, they come up with these crazy laws, and then the next thing you know it’s like building wildfires in these smaller communities.
I think for us, we wanted to go somewhere where [you can] see exactly where it’s happening. See who it’s affecting and how they’re living, and hopefully make a big change for them to keep up the good energy in the community.
What is the drag community like in places like Tennessee?
I still talk to my drag children to make sure that they’re all right, and to see how everything is going. It’s been a while since we’ve been back there. But while we were there, they were attempting to ban drag. It was very, very unfortunate. But I mean, like I said in the preview, you can’t kill drag, and you can’t keep us down.
Pride ended up coming back. When we were initially talking with them about Pride coming back in the community, it was very heavy on Pride being there, but then they still wanted to try to put restrictions on what that would look like. By the time we left, Pride still ended up going on. Some of those restrictions were lifted, and that’s due in part to us being there, but also heavily due to the people within those communities fighting for Pride to stay. We’re here all together.
Do these issues make you feel like this show is any more important or urgent for the public?
Oh, absolutely. I think right now, everywhere you look, it feels like people’s rights seem to be snatched up left to right. [The] movement for women’s rights, attacking queer people, people who are trans. If you’re not a white man in America, it’s a very, very hard time to be living.
Now we’re on the fourth season, and it feels harder to be queer or be a drag queen. Like four seasons ago, they were going into communities to tell these stories and help affect change. And now I feel like this season it’s like, not only are we just going to tell stories and affect change, but we’re fighting for this livelihood for everyone.
What did you learn about yourself or your relationship to drag while filming the show?
I learned that you can learn anything from anyone. My drag daughter, Maleeka had never done drag before. We were there to get in there with her, and for me to know her and understand her. It just felt like she was just such a [strong] person. And although I felt like I’m gonna go here and I’m gonna [say] “I got you, if you need me, lean on me.” I’m like, why am I finding myself leaning on my drag daughter right now? She’s a really big-hearted loving person.
And not even just Malika, but from every one of the drag children. I [learned] so much about being a better person [and] about being more compassionate. And I think any time that you watch a show and you hear a story that’s not yours, or that you might not relate to, your empathy meter goes up.
Hopefully the people who see the show, maybe people who don’t even think that this show is for them, it will make a change in their lives. For me, it changed me already. I already know the power of the show.
What made you want to join the show in the first place?
I wanted to make change. In Milwaukee, I used to work with Courage MKE, and we used to do pageants. We would do so many events, save so much money, to eventually buy a house to make sure that LGBTQ youth in the city had a place to go so that they weren’t just tossed to the side by their families who don’t have any love for them.
After doing “Drag Race,” I felt like I was doing a lot of work, taking a lot of bookings, traveling a lot. In that capacity, you get to meet a lot of people in [these] spaces, and you see how much change you can make in their lives, even just by doing drag and being yourself. But I felt like I wanted to do something where I can feel like I’m giving more to my community, being a voice in my community and using my platform in the best way possible.
Now that you’ve been all over the country, how does the Wisconsin drag scene compare?
I feel like drag in Milwaukee is so diverse. When I got on “Drag Race,” I was extremely busy. So busy that I didn’t always have time to be back home with my community and see the drag. And so one day, one of the first times that I went back home, I’m like there are so many new queens! There are so many new queens and I love that so much because I remember when I first started doing drag in the city, and I was the baby queen so nervous of meeting all the queens that I looked up to so much. The birth of so many new queens there, it just makes me feel proud of the magic of drag in Milwaukee.
What do you think makes Milwaukee drag special?
I think it’s the energy. It’s not just Milwaukee – it is Wisconsin. Including Madison! Heavy on the Madison. But I think it’s big energy.
I feel like it’s this fantasy to be somewhere else. Sometimes in Milwaukee, there’s not the most opportunities. But through drag, we find we can put ourselves in whatever space we want to be in. And so when you see the shows in Milwaukee, and you see people live, you can see the dream playing out in front of you on the stage. You can see the commitment and it just feels really good.
